


Water Over the Bridge

by Jedflah



Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Back to the Future: The Game
Genre: Filler, Fluff, Friends in Time, Gen, Missing Scene, One Shot, Taking care of Marty, just an ounce of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25286947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jedflah/pseuds/Jedflah
Summary: After arguing about Edna on the roof of the courthouse, Emmett gets inspiration for how to make his flying car invention work, but he's going to need some help getting it ready in time for the Expo.(Takes place after the end of Episode 4: Double Visions)
Relationships: Emmett "Doc" Brown & Marty McFly
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Water Over the Bridge

**Monday October 12, 1931, 9:23 PM**

With a few sprays of the aged anti-stick anti-stain formula, Emmett was no longer caught on the statue and in any harm’s way. “What did you say your name was again?” Emmett cried as the two of them swung away from the statue.

“Marty. It’s Marty.”

“Marty? Thanks.”

The two boys climbed down and dusted themselves off from their latest near-death experience. Then, almost as if nothing happened, Emmett began his rambling again. “Tungsten. The catalyst will need to be made out of tungsten, given the temperature within the converter will no doubt be intense. We’ll have to harvest the filaments from all the light bulbs at my house,” he said as the storm threatened closer.

“Your invention? You think you can finish it before the end of the Expo?” Marty asked once he caught his breath.

“Think? I’ve got to! My future depends on it!”

“Then let’s go!”

“Of course,” Emmett started walking to the truck, “the oscillating plates will need to be calibrated precisely! Even the slightest misalignment could cause the magnetic field to fluctuate in intensity, leading to sudden shifts in polarity. The results could conceivably be catastrophic!”

Marty opened the passenger door. “Eh, who cares.”

Emmett climbed in on the driver’s side. “My thoughts exactly! Science _should_ be messy and unpredictable, or else where’s the fun of it?”

Marty gave a small chuckle as he closed his door behind him.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just, that’s something a good friend of mine would say. C’mon let’s get going!”

The roads were quiet that night. They had been ever since Kid Tannen was arrested and his speakeasy was shut down. A few crashes of thunder brought the storm into full swing as the downpour pelted against the frame of the truck. It was only now when Marty was sitting in that seat did he realize just how exhausted he was from running around all day across two different time periods. Come to think of it, he couldn’t even remember the last time he ate something in the last few consecutive days. This was made all the more obvious when his stomach gave a concerningly loud growl.

“There’s some leftover hasenpfeffer from earlier if you want any when we get to my place,” Emmett said without a second thought.

“Really? Ah, jeez, Emmett I wouldn’t wanna impose.”

“Don’t worry about it, Marty! Oma’s recipe always makes extra. Trust me, you will not go hungry as long as you’re with me.”

Marty smiled at his friend. “Thanks, Emmett.”

“Now that I’ve mentioned it, I’m getting a bit peckish myself. Heh, I guess a heartbreak followed by dangling off the courthouse helplessly would make one hungry.”

“Hey, Emmett,” Marty’s hand drifted up to the back of his neck, “listen, I’m really sorry about what happened with Edna today.”

Emmett chewed his lip. “Eh, it’s alright. I had some time to think before you showed up, and I came to a realization about Edna.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I did. At the time, I thought I was happy with her. She showed so much interest in my work, but I realized after a while, she stopped asking about my previous inventions and only cared about her idea for the Mental Alignment Meter. Kept saying how it was a great idea for the Expo. Whenever I brought up the rocket car, she just kept dismissing it.

“She never cared about what I wanted. Not really. Every time she kissed me, I always saw a lingering expression of disgust. It was subtle, but it was the same expression she made when she saw I had one of Trixie Trotter’s records. It was the same face she made when I accidentally told her the real reason we had the Stay Sober Society meet at my house. I thought I could fool myself by thinking that it was just because I did something wrong, but…”

Marty looked out at the Brown Mansion as they approached it. “She was using you, Emmett.”

“Yeah. I guess she was.” 

Emmett pulled into the garage and parked the truck. It was the first time Marty had seen the inside of the garage during his time in 1931. In just 24 more years, he would be in there again working with Doc to get himself home. Of course, that all already happened to Marty, but it was still left waiting for Emmett.

“I don’t think the storm is gonna let up anytime soon. We’re just gonna have to get a little rained on on the way to the lab,” Emmett said.

“Hey you’re the doc, Doc.”

Emmett shot Marty a confused look. “What?”

“Sorry, I’m a little sleepy. You just remind me of someone…”

Emmett shrugged and led Marty to the basement where his lab currently resided. “I think it would be best if I got all the tungsten myself. I’d hate for my pop to find you creeping around the house stealing our light bulbs. Help yourself to some stew though while I’m out.”

“Hey you don’t have to tell me twice.”

When Emmett returned, he had since cleaned himself up and was now wearing grey coveralls. Along with a box of all the light bulbs, Emmett had also brought down a bag of coffee beans. Marty had noticed the well-used coffee pot on the burner when he got his third helping of stew, but hadn’t made the connection that they would be using it that night.

“I dunno how long we’ll be up working on this, so this is to be used sparingly. I already got yelled at for being up so late. Don’t wanna make things worse by taking too much of pop’s coffee.”

“Jeez, does he ever _not_ yell at you?”

Emmett huffed as he set the box on the worktable. “Not that I can remember off the top of my head. Things haven’t been as tense lately because he approved of Edna, but once he finds out we’re not an item anymore…” He shuddered. “Y’know what, let’s not talk about Edna anymore tonight.”

“You got it. Mmm, by the way, this stew is amazing, Emmett! You should really make it more often.”

Emmett brought down a couple of hammers and another empty box from one of the shelves. “Oh, believe me, I would if the recipe didn’t take so long. Marinating the rabbit takes about two to three days as it is, and then you have to let it slow cook all day. Not to mention that the marinade calls for red wine, and you know how hard it is to get your hands on _that_ these days.”

Marty set down his empty bowl next to the stew pot. “Jeez, Emmett, how’d you make it then?”

“Hmm? Oh, we have a wine cellar. Don’t worry, I didn’t go out and illegally purchase alcohol _just_ for the stew.” He handed Marty a hammer and a light bulb. “Smash the bulbs over the empty box here, it’ll make cleaning up easier.”

“If you had a wine cellar, why did we need the alcohol from the speakeasy for the rocket fuel?”

“Wine’s alcohol content is too low, Marty.” Emmett broke another light bulb and pulled out the filament and set it aside. “We needed 190 proof alcohol, remember?”

“Right,” Marty said as he smashed another light bulb.

There were a few minutes where neither of them said anything, but the sound of shattering glass alone soon drove Emmett up the wall.

“Did you really do all that for fun, Marty?”

“No! Of course not, Emmett! I had to say _something_. You weren’t listening to anything else I was saying. It’s been,” he sighed, “a crazy few days for me; running around non-stop on next to no sleep and no food. I wasn’t thinking straight. There probably was a better way I could have done it, but I just wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, Emmett. A lot of this is my fault, and I take full responsibility for it.”

“Well,” Emmett paused, “thanks for owning up to it at least.” He pulled out the last light bulb and broke the glass once again. “I’m still a little bit cross with you for it though.”

“Then why are you having me help you? I mean, not that I don’t _want_ to help, but--”

Emmett shrugged. “You make a good assistant. You seem to navigate the lab pretty well, and the way you handled making the rocket fuel without much of my help way back in June was surprisingly graceful. I had trouble getting lab partners to keep up with me in chemistry back in high school, so it was a pleasant surprise to see you able to do it so well.”

“Yeah I’m surprised I was able to pull that off too. It was like, as soon as you went out to argue with your dad, my thoughts just took a back seat and instincts took over. It was weird.”

Emmett nodded silently and removed the box of broken glass from the table. “Right, well, I hope you’re ready to help out again. This shouldn’t be _as_ hectic as when we made the rocket fuel, but we’ll still have to work fast to get this ready for the expo in the morning.”

“Whatever you need me to do, I’m up for it,” Marty said eagerly.

“Good, you can start by brewing some coffee.”

Marty was slightly disappointed to have such an underwhelming task, but he knew he and Emmett were going to be needing it.

As Marty ground up the coffee beans, Emmett put on a record. “I usually work with music on, but I hadn’t been able to for a while because of… well you know who,” Emmett said.

“You sure it won’t wake up your dad?”

Emmett swatted the air. “Nah, he’s all the way upstairs. He wouldn’t hear us even if there was an explosion. Hope you don’t mind, though. I just can’t really focus without it.”

“No, I totally get it. Back where I’m from, I listen to music all the time.”

“Speaking of which, where _are_ you from, Marty?”

“Uh…” He started rubbing his neck again as he thought of something inconspicuous. “Wisconsin. Yeah I’m, uh, from Wisconsin.”

“Oh really? I have an uncle that lives there, actually.”

_‘Of course. Of all the places I name, Doc just happens to know someone there.’_

“Of course, I doubt you’ve met him. He lives out in the middle of nowhere and he keeps to himself mostly. Gosh, it’s been so long since we’ve gone to visit.” He shook his head and got back to working with the tungsten.

Once the coffee was done, Marty poured two cups and set them on the table between their places. “I don’t suppose you have any cream or half-and-half down here, huh?”

“No, sorry. I usually drink mine black. Saves time and space.”

Marty chewed his lip and nodded. “It’s alright. So, what’s next?”

“Here.” Emmett got up from his seat and pulled out a large box from under a shelf unit. “It’s the pieces of the car. I need to assemble it to gauge how big I need to make the static accumulator. My toolbox should be under the table. Uh, the red one.”

Marty brought out the aforementioned toolbox and opened it up on the table. “Check, Emmett.”

“Perfect. Hand me that 3/4 wrench right there please,” he said as he started assembling the car frame.

Marty looked over Emmett’s shoulder. “3/4? Don’t you mean 5/8?”

Emmett took another look at the bolt size. “Oh, yeah I suppose you’re right.” He smiled back at Marty. “Thanks for catching that.”

Marty smiled back as he watched his friend work frantically to reassemble the vehicle. Occasionally, he would be asked to hold a piece or two in place as Emmett connected them, but other than that, the extent of Marty’s help resided with him handing tools off to Emmett whenever he called for them. That, and refilling his coffee cup. 

“Alright, we’re in the home stretch now. Pass me that flathead screwdriver, Marty.”

“Yeah, sure thing Em…” A yawn had interrupted Marty’s response, and that only led to him passing out at the worktable with the black screwdriver in hand.

It didn’t take very long for Emmett to notice what had become of Marty. He sighed and pulled out the cot he kept down in the basement for occasions such as these. Although, Emmett had usually been the only one to use it. The only exception being Einstein as Emmett couldn’t just leave him to fend for himself on the streets. Luckily, the blankets had recently been washed. After some initial struggle with carrying his friend, Emmett eventually lay Marty down on the cot and gently covered him with the blanket.

The newspaper did say it would be cold that night after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Well writing this one surely went by faster than my last fic. Probably because this one was shorter and I wanted to just focus on character interactions rather than a character's journey. I learned a lot about making Hasenpfeffer though, that's for sure. I know in the game script it's spelled Hossenpfeffer, but it's wrong. The script is wrong.  
> This isn't necessarily a sequel to my last fic. It could be, but it could also just be what directly happened after the events of the game canon. I tried to keep it vague by not having Marty bring up Citizen Brown or anything like that. His focus right now is just on Emmett, and I wanted to keep it that way.


End file.
